Tesco's Fresh & Easy: a timeline in pictures

February 2006: Tesco announced that it planned to move into America by opening a chain of small grocery stores named Fresh & Easy. At the time, Tesco said that “following extensive consumer research”, it planned to roll out a new grocery chain in the US based on its successful Tesco Express convenience store concept in the UK.
Sir Terry Leahy – Tesco’s chief executive at the time (pictured) - heralded the development as “a tremendously exciting move for Tesco which will add a new leg to our international expansion”. “The United States is the largest economy in the world with strong forecast growth and a sophisticated retail market,” he said. “It is a market we have researched extensively for many years and over the last year we have committed serious resources to developing a format that we believe will be really popular with American consumers.”Picture: Clare Kendall